Life in Japan

A few months ago a friend gave me a copy of the photo journal,  A Year of Mornings – 3191 Miles Apart.  It is a collaboration of Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes.  Maria lives in Portland, Maine and Stephanie lives in Portland Oregon.  They posted photos from their mornings on a blog for a year.  Although there is an entire nation between them, it is interesting to note the similarities in their photographs; sometimes in the subjects and at other times in the composition.  Since this first project, they have also done the same thing in the evening.  Their new book is 3191: Evenings.

The idea behind their blog and subsequent books intrigues me, but not in a way that makes me want to duplicate it.  (Although it could be a fun family project with photos coming in from six different locations.  Well.. as of Friday it’s now down to five locations with Kristina’s move from Boston to Kingwood, Texas).  Back to the intriguing idea…I live in an interesting place, Tokyo, and when I am not at home I am usually visiting someplace interesting.  If I am looking for something to photograph and post everyday it will cause me to pay more attention to the world around me.  One of my biggest concerns is how much of life I miss by rushing right through it.  On some days the photo might be the topic of a post and at other times it may just appear with no explanation at all.  The main idea is to notice the things around me.

So with this in mind, I took my camera on my morning walk and this is what I got:

If you stand on a corner near my house and look at the Tokyo Temple it appears like the Angel Moroni is actually on Mori Tower, a building about a mile away.  It’s an interesting view.  And yes, the views in Tokyo are still cluttered with power lines everywhere.  Maybe one day I will photograph the view from my living room window….

Many of you may not realize that I am an adrenline junkie.  We have several in the family.  During our recent family reunion in St. George, Utah we did a zipline tour with Paragon Sports.  The only family members not participating were Rick, Andrew (the babysitters), David, Izzie, Jan and Holli (too little).  You can watch a video of us here Zipline Tour Be sure to watch for Havana (age 5) at 4:10.  She is tiny and probably our biggest adrenaline junkie.

I still keep in touch with my college roommate, Susan.  These days we email a few times a year and a few months ago we chatted on the phone.  Each time I hear from her she asks me where I am.  She seems to be under the impression that I live quite an exotic life, jetting all over the world.  I have tried to convince her and others that my life is like everyone else my age in that I travel to be present at special events in the lives of my children, grandchildren and other family members.  I was convinced that the only difference is that I have to travel a little further to get there.  I think that is still mostly true.

Last year, I traveled to see my mother, my sister, all of my children and grandchildren, my niece and her family.  That involved visiting the following places: Bountiful, Centerville, Provo, and St. George, Utah; London, England; Kingwood, Texas; Sugar Grove, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts and Pocatello, Idaho.  Normal places…well maybe London and Sugar Grove are a bit exotic.  I also spent time home in Tokyo.  I love all these places because they are where the people I love most live.

Lately, I am thinking Susan might be right about my exotic life.  Besides these places I also traveled to Egypt in April, Australia in September and Cambodia just a couple weeks ago.  Egypt and Cambodia are definitely exotic.  The long flights don’t bother me much any more.  The people at Singapore Airlines in the Los Angeles know me by name…this is not normal and yet it is!!!!

So, what is coming up?  I leave Monday for a whirlwind wedding shopping and planning trip to the US, including stops in Utah and Texas.  In February, we are going to India.  April takes us back to Texas for Kristina’s wedding and I’ll be passing through Utah both directions to visit my mom and sister.  After that, who knows?

I know that we are supposed to be living in Tokyo and because of that I am grateful that I can travel and be a part of my family’s lives.  Rick is truly wonderful and generous.  I am also blessed to be able to travel to “exotic” places, experience different cultures and see this amazing world we live in.  My life is full.

I think I need to stop trying to convince people that the life I live is just like everyone else’s.  It’s not, but it’s my life and I am so grateful for it.

Christmas 2009